Light Up My Life
by Calamity Queen
Summary: Kurayami Hikari is a young girl who wants nothing more than to become a great Duelist that would make her loved ones proud. After enrolling in Duel Academia, it seems like she finally has a chance to make her wish come true, but she has no idea of the challenges she'll face when she gets there. AU.
1. The Promised Beginning

**A/N: Hello, Calamity Queen here. This is my first attempt at writing a fanfiction, so please don't hate me too much if I mess this up somewhere down the line. As a heads up, I will be using the Japanese names for the cards and characters, so I'm sorry if things seem unfamiliar at first. With that being said, I hope you'll still read and review!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own _Yu-Gi-Oh! GX._**

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

 **The Promised Beginning**

Dressed in a clean, freshly ironed black and white middle school uniform, a fair-skinned teenage girl with long ebony-colored hair slept peacefully, despite the uncomfortable stadium seat she was currently resting in and the bustling sounds of people dueling going on around her. While the girl had originally arrived at the Duel Academia testing arena bright and early in the hopes of sizing up some of the skill levels of her future peers, she had soon grown bored and had wound up dozing off before even half of the examinees had been tested. It certainly didn't help that she had stayed up rather late the previous night in order to make a few last minute adjustments to her deck, either.

Even with a pair of headphones on, blasting extremely loud instrumental music into her ears, the faint sound of nearby whimpering was still somehow able to reach the raven-haired girl, slowly pulling her out of her dreamless sleep.

As her eyes fluttered open, the light gradually returned to them, making them shine like a ruby and sapphire. Now fully awake, the girl lowered her gaze to where that whimpering had emanated from, soon laying eyes on a snow-white Akita Inu wearing white and gold battle armor. While pets weren't allowed in the testing facilities, the girl felt that rule wasn't something she had to worry about since, as far as she knew, no one else but she was able to see the little half-transparent dog that was now standing before her.

"What is it, Raiko?" she mumbled to the card spirit, pulling down her headphones so that they were now hanging around her neck.

The dog let out a short bark before looking up towards the ceiling, evidently trying to call her attention to something in that direction.

The girl looked up as well, and while she didn't really spot anything of interest, other than the lighting fixtures, she soon became aware of a voice talking over the PA system that she hadn't been able to hear before.

 _"Examinee Number 2, Kurayami Hikari-san... Last call for Kurayami Hikari-san..."_

"Crap, that's me!" the girl gasped, suddenly bolting up from her seat. "I guess I must have been asleep longer than I thought if they're already down to the last few applicants..." she muttered to herself as she made her way down towards the dueling field, hastily slipping her duel disk over her right forearm as she ran.

When she finally reached the field, she found her proctor already there, ready and waiting.

"I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting," the girl breathlessly apologized, giving a quick but courteous bow to the man across from her.

"Kurayami Hikari, I presume?" he questioned, earning him an affirmative nod from said girl. "Well, now that you've decided to show up, let's begin, shall we?"

"Yes, sir," Hikari responded before she and her opponent simultaneously activating their duel disks.

"Duel!" the two called out as they drew their starting hands.

 **Proctor: 4000**

 **Hikari: 4000**

"I'll go first," the proctor announced, drawing a card. "I summon King Tiger Wanghu in Attack Position!"

As the proctor placed the card on his duel disk, a large white tiger covered in silver and red armor appeared on the field with a roar (4/1700/1000).

"Next, I activate the Permanent Magic, Burden of the Mighty. As long as this card remains on the field, all monsters the opponent controls losses 100 Attack Points times their Levels."

That was a pretty interesting combo her opponent came up with, Hikari had to admit. Due to King Tiger Wanghu's effect, as long as it remained face-up on the field, any monster Normal or Special Summoned with an Attack of 1400 or less would instantly be destroyed, and with that Magic Card weakening her monsters, it severely limited the ones she would be able to play.

"Finally, I'll set one card facedown," the man said as a reversed card appeared behind his monster. "Turn end."

"My turn. Draw," Hikari announced, drawing her sixth card before looking over what she had.

 _This should be good_ , she thought with a faint smile before picking out a card from her hand. "I activate the Magic Card, Painful Choice. I now choose five cards from my deck, and then my opponent selects one of them. That card will be added to my hand while I discard the rest to the Cemetery."

After searching through her deck, Hikari showed the five chosen cards to her opponent, all of which were monsters of the same archetype: Lightlord Magician Lyla, Lightlord Paladin Jayne, Lightlord Monk Eileen, Lightlord Angel Cherubim, and Lightlord Warrior Garos.

"I choose Lightlord Angel Cherubim," the proctor decided.

"Very well," the raven-haired girl nodded, adding the chosen card to her hand while slipping the other four into her duel disk's Cemetery slot.

"With at least four different Lightlord monsters currently in my Cemetery, I can now Special Summon the mighty Judgment Dragoon from my hand!"

Hikari placed the card on her duel disk and a massive red-eyed dragon covered in stark-white feathers emerged on the field, its large wings outstretched (8/3000-2200/2600).

After taking a moment to admire her monster, the girl resumed her turn. "I now activate Judgment Dragoon's effect: by paying 1000 Life Points, I can have it destroy every single card on the field, except for itself."

 **Proctor: 4000**

 **Hikari: 3000**

After Hikari's Life Points dropped, her dragon surrounded itself in a glowing white light as it prepared to use its destructive power.

"In that case, I'll activate my face-down, the Instant Magic, Shrink," the proctor proclaimed, revealing his reverse card. "By applying this card's effect to your Judgment Dragoon, I can halve its original Attack Points until the end of this turn."

With its Attack now at 700, Judgment Dragoon unleashed a super-nova-like blast upon the field, destroying all of the examiner's cards. With Burden of the Mighty now gone, the dragon's strength rose to 1500, though it was still a far cry from its usual power.

"You may have crippled my dragon, for the time being, but that still won't stop me from finishing things this turn," Hikari revealed with an enigmatic smile.

"Oh?" the examiner questioned.

The girl gave a curt nod as she picked out another card from her hand. "By banishing Lightlord Monk Eileen—a LIGHT monster—from my Cemetery, I can now Special Summon Somber-Black Dragon Collapserpent from my hand."

Out of a cosmic portal appeared a black and orange limbless dragon with spiked bat-like wings and a small black hole emanating from the center its chest (4/1800/1700).

"And since I still have my Normal Summon, I'll use it to bring forth Eclipse Wyvern in Attack Position."

Alongside the other two dragons came a black and silver wyvern decorated with bright red patterns all over its body (4/1600/1000).

"Battle: Judgment Dragoon, Somber-Black Dragon Collapserpent, Eclipse Wyvern, direct attack!" Hikari ordered.

With loud roars, her three dragons simultaneously unleashed their attacks upon the proctor, knocking out all of his Life Points in a matter of seconds.

 **Proctor: 0**

 **Hikari: 3000 (winner)**

"The Examination Duel is over," the proctor announced after recovering from the loss. "Congratulations. You've won."

"Thank you for your time, sir," the girl replied, bowing graciously.

 **~x~x~x~*~x~x~x~**

 _Well, that went by a lot faster than I thought it would_ , the black-haired teen mused to herself as she absentmindedly continued to her stroll towards the stadium's exit. After witnessing the end of Examinee Number 1, Misawa Daichi's, duel, she decided to take her leave since his duel was meant to be the last one of the day.

With her headphones back on and only mildly paying attention to her surroundings, she failed to notice a blur of black and red quickly racing in her direction and soon collided with said figure, causing her to fall back onto the ground.

"Ow..." Hikari winced in pain, her tailbone sore from having landed directly on it.

"...right?" she vaguely heard the sound of someone uttering. "...hear me? Hello?"

"Huh?" the girl asked, pulling down her headphones and finally looking up.

There, she saw a boy with two-toned brown hair, wearing a black and red school uniform, gazing down at her with a pair of chocolate-colored eyes.

"I asked if you were okay," he reiterated his previous inquiry.

"Yes, I'm fine," she nodded as she then proceeded to pick herself off the ground, ignoring the hand the boy had offered her, feeling she was capable of doing so without any assistance.

She then began to dust off some of the dirt that had gotten on her black tights, mumbling something about having just washed them under her breath as she did so.

"I'm really sorry for running into you like that," the boy apologized under a nervous laugh, rubbing the back of his head with his hand in a sheepish sort of way.

"It's fine, really," Hikari insisted, just wanting to wave the whole thing off. "Next time, just try to slow down a little and, in turn, I'll try to do a better job at paying attention to the things around me, 'kay?"

"Uh, sure..." he grinned.

She smiled back. "Good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I really have to get going."

Giving a short, apologetic bow as a last farewell, Hikari then promptly made her exit, leaving the boy curiously staring after her for a few seconds before suddenly remembering that he was wanted over on the dueling field to take part in his last-minute Examination Duel, and then quickly took off soon afterwards as well.

 **~x~x~x~*~x~x~x~**

"Today was a pretty good day, huh, Raiko?" Hikari asked, twisting the knob on her bedroom door open.

The Lightlord Hunter gave an energetic bark, and then hopped up right onto the girl's bed. He yapped happily again before burying his furry neck under one of the pillows.

Hikari watched the little spirit's theatrics for a while and then proceeded to get things for the coming day organized. A list of what was required, recommended, and prohibited at the Academia already resided on her desk. Another list showed what would be distributed upon arrival to the island.

"Wanna watch the news, Raiko?" she asked, flipping on the plasma wide-screen mounted in a corner. The latest Pro Duels and results were being broadcasted. Quickly scanning the names and noticing none that were very appealing, she continued around the room, throwing some things on the bed that she would pack. Toothbrush... undergarments... an interesting book or two... some chocolate for instant energy before tests...

 _"And tomorrow's duels: Edo Phoenix versus D. D. Scientist."_

"Some people think of the weirdest nicknames..." she muttered, glancing once at the screen, and then looked back down to fold the clothing. The door creaked slightly, and a figure stepped into the room. Raiko disappeared instantly, and a slight grin formed on Hikari's face. Only one person had the tenacity to open the door without knocking in this household. "Or should I say, some people have the weirdest _names_?"

"I thank you deeply, Kurayami Hikari," the boy said back.

"Anytime, Edo Phoenix." she replied, just as mockingly. Then, the joking ended, and she put down her last piece of clothing. "So, what's up?"

"Nothing much," he answered. The taunt in his voice had ended as well. "I just want to congratulate you for the entry examination scores and your duel with the proctor."

"You saw it?" she asked.

"Every move... Well, both moves," he replied back. "One turn finishes are impressive. It's a wonder why Saiou hasn't let you duel in the Pro circuit."

"Maybe because he's busy dealing with a fifteen-year-old dueling troll," Hikari suggested.

Edo snorted. "Right, he doesn't need to deal with two, for now."

They looked at each other for a few seconds in silence before he broke it. "Seriously though, I think sending you into the Pros would be a better idea than sending you to Duel Academia. Honestly, do you need it?"

"We don't all have two PhD's, Edo," the girl acknowledged. "Besides, maybe he knows that my mother would care that I get a full tuition. Maybe she always wanted me to go to Duel Academia, or something. She knew Kaiba Seto well and even funded a huge part of Duel Academia's creation, after all."

"Your mother was a Pro Duelist, too. But whatever. I cannot argue with your rock head. Duel Academia would be a new... experience, I guess." To add to his surrender, he shrugged his shoulders. She had won the argument, again. "Don't fail, or Saiou will never field you."

Hikari looked at him like he wanted a beating, right there and then. She stepped a foot closer, and looked into his dark blue eyes with her mismatched ones. "That's why you never went to Duel Academia. He _knew_ you would fail." She placed her hands on her hips to emphasize her point.

"You know, Kurayami? Some of my intelligence should rub off on you," Edo commented, a look of smugness and disgust mixed on his face. He crossed his arms to emphasize his point.

"You know, Phoenix? Maybe it's your overwhelming stupidity that's rubbing off on me," Hikari answered back. She strengthened her glare and held it steady for some time before they both relented, laughing.

Edo was the one that broke the laughter first. "Hikari? You're like my only family these days: like my sister. When I say don't fail, I really mean it."

Hikari looked at the boy. "Trust me, failing isn't in my repertoire." For the past few years, he'd been her only family as well. She looked at the silver-haired Pro as her brother. The truth is that they would have actually been made a real family officially, if fate had only played out a little differently and hadn't taken their parents from them…

He chuckled. "I don't doubt it. Good luck, nonetheless. Who knows what goes on in a remote island several hundred miles away from civilization?"

At that, the black-haired girl laughed. "Geez, you make it sound like I'm being shipped away to some tropical jungle."

"You could be attacked by wild chimpanzees. Be careful," he commented gravely.

Then, he stepped closer and hugged her. Fiercely. "Saiou tells you to do things for a reason," he said in a much softer voice than when they were previously taunting each other. "That's why I'm telling you to be careful. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't watch for the giant chimpanzees."

Hikari rolled her heterochromic eyes slightly at his last statement, but returned the hug. "Phoenix... what could possibly go wrong at Duel Academia?"

* * *

 **A/N: And that's the end of the first chapter. Anyone who knows even a little Japanese must have realized how oxymoronic my character's name sounds, but that's okay. After all, that name helped me come up with the deck I'm using for this story, which happens to have a pretty strong Chaos theme to it.**

 **Well, that's all I have to say, at the moment. See ya!**


	2. Exploration and Confrontation

**Disclaimer: I do not own _Yu-Gi-Oh! GX._**

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

 **Exploration and Confrontation**

 _ **Saturday, October 2nd**_

 _Today was the first day of Duel Academia... well, at least it was the first time I've seen the island. Since it was a Saturday and since school wouldn't start until Monday the 4th, there were few students already on the island. I guess I just caught a really early jet or something... but I wanted the early arrival so I could settle in and get my mind organized for day 1._

 _The island is peaceful now. I don't know how it will be once school actually begins. The distribution lines were extremely small today; it took a quick 5 minutes to collect everything that was needed. If a record is ever needed, here it is:_

 _Academia-Issued Duel Disk_

 _Obelisk Blue Girls' uniform x5_

 _Duel Academia Jersey (for gym) x2_

 _PDA_

 _ID Card_

 _Room Keys_

 _School Books_

 _Schedule_

 _Huh, am I missing anything? Anyway, my schedule is okay. I wasn't really expecting anything._

 _ **Period 1:**_ _Advanced Dueling Strategies_

 _ **Period 2:**_ _Knowledge of the Obscure Cards and Strategies_

 _ **Period 3:**_ _Sciences_

 _ **Period 4:**_ _History of the Cards_

 _ **Lunch**_

 _ **Period 5:**_ _Math Lv 3_

 _ **Period 6:**_ _Gym_

 _ **Period 7:**_ _Tactics for the Tag_

 _Most of the classes were required for incoming 1st years. Only Math Level 3 was an upperclassmen course. Living with Edo Phoenix could sometimes do that to you._

 _The teacher's name seem kind of odd, though. Chronos de Medici… Sounds foreign. Italian, maybe? Anyway, I did manage to overhear an interesting rumor about how he dueled some latecomer to the exams named Yuki Judai, or something close to that. Apparently, even though Chronos dueled using his own Antique Gear Golem deck, he still wound up losing to the kid! I wish I could have been there to see that, but that's what I get for leaving early, I suppose…_

 _Well, that's all for today's entry—Wait!_

 _Today, while on the jet here, I met an interesting fellow. Since this was a very early flight, there weren't very many people on board. Even less were in the Blue 1st class seats. Anyways, so I entered on the jet, like some newbie, and somehow got stuck next to a 3rd year. Yup. Cute he was, but very distant. Two silent people can't really connect. Like how things go, I didn't even manage to get out a name. Just how boy-experienced I am. Well, honestly, I got a little more on his deck style. We played an unofficial duel (being the Duelists we were). He plays a Cyber Dragon deck. I tried to combat it the best I could, but ultimately lost to his Cyber End Dragon in the end._

 _Well, anyway, I guess nothing else interesting happened. I should sleep early so I can explore the gigantic island tomorrow. Raiko is already whimpering for me to turn off the lights. (This Blue room is really huge!)_

 _Good night,_

 _暗闇_ _光_

 **~x~x~x~*~x~x~x~**

Hikari yawned and cringed as the morning light fell upon her face. She made a mental note to pull the blinds a bit closer the next time. Then again, tomorrow would be the first day of school, and sleeping late that day wouldn't be the smartest idea. She rolled over in her sheets and stared at the wall.

 _What was I going to do today?_ Her mind felt so hazy, it took her a few seconds to register the spacious suite as a room in the Blue Dorm of Duel Academia.

Right, she was in Duel Academia on the Sunday before school started. She rubbed my eyes, and then sat up in the bed. The clock read 7:10. Plenty of time to get a good day's hike.

After all morning necessities and a quick breakfast of toast and tea, she stepped out of the doors of the castle-like Blue Dorm.

 _I wonder, is every other dorm like this?_ she thought, realizing that she hadn't seen any other castles on her way from the main building, except for the Boys' Blue Dorm. Where was the Red and Yellow Dorm?

Hikari set out to make a mental image of the island in her head with the help of her PDA. To the north, after the main building, was an immense stretch of forest. In the forest, on the tip of the Northern shore, was a volcano, hopefully dormant. East of the main building was shoreline, and even a hot springs. Down south of the Girls Dorm was supposedly the Yellow Dorm (which she wanted to see today) next to the lake. To the west was the Red Dorm near the pier and a lighthouse (something else she wanted to see today).

 _Maybe what Phoenix said about the chimpanzees wasn't so far off_ , Hikari pondered. She didn't doubt that there couldn't be such creatures in the depths of the forests. In fact, it was the fear of them that kept her to the road when she was exploring around.

The Yellow Dorm didn't meet expectations. Nowhere near the size and grandeur of the Obelisk Blue Dorms, the Ra Yellow Dorms looked more like a modest hotel building. However, situated next to the lake gave it a little more appeal. Still, Hikari figured that the gap shouldn't have been so distinct.

"Do they want to enforce segregation or something, Raiko?" she questioned as she and her spirit partner walked to the Red Dorms. She pictured the Red Dorms to look similar to the Yellow Dorms: a modest hotel-like structure.

When she finally got there, however, she was stunned to find out that she couldn't have been more wrong. Looking more like a shoddy shack in need of a serious paint job and several other renovations, the Osiris Red Dorms honestly didn't seem like a place anyone should ever be expected to live in.

After pushing the fear that the building could collapse under her weight, Hikari ventured closer. A set of rickety stairs joined the ground floor to the second. There were only two floors. She took a shaky step on the first step and heard the wood creak under her.

"Imagine living here..." she commented to Raiko, taking her foot off the step. She didn't need to be fined for destroying the building.

Raiko looked at the building with his big eyes and then suddenly peaked out from behind her leg, growling.

Just when she was about to ask what was wrong, a rat suddenly scurried out from underneath the step, causing Hikari to take another step back. Only when the rat slipped into the nearby bushes did she realize she had held her breath. "Heh... I think I'll leave..." she suggested. This place didn't seem very welcoming, after all.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" a voice suddenly yelled.

"Huh?" Hikari asked, and turned around.

A group of three Osiris Red students stood there, a look of annoyance and anger on their faces. "Are you here to tease us already?" one of them asked.

"Don't need to strut around here. Just go back to your own dorm if you're so afraid of a few rats," another added. "Just to let you know, we can _eat_ rats here sometimes, too!"

The group of three burst into laughs, but Hikari held her place. She didn't understand. Why were they so... hostile? What did she do?

"Hey, I heard that girls are automatically placed in Obelisk," one continued. "Maybe because most of them are afraid to get their fingernails dirty in the Osiris grime."

"So they don't even deserve to be that high up on the food chain. Some people are just granted privileges, huh? Don't work and get everything handed to them."

"And yet they come down here to laugh at us."

"Excuse me, but I'm not laughing at you guys," Hikari finally said. She finally made the food chain connection to the dorm rankings. "Not all Obelisks are snobby, and I don't think all Reds are bad—"

"Most girls don't deserve to be there anyway. I defeated one just last year."

These guys were beginning to really tick her off. "Hey, enough of this stereotypical—"

"Don't try to defend your Blues. With your presidential suites and fluffy pillows—"

"Duel for it," Hikari said suddenly.

"What did you—"

"Duel me," she reiterated. "If you think you deserve it, then stop telling me your words and tell me with your cards." Hikari felt a slight tingle running down the length of her spine and a small grin set on her face. "I'll take any and all of you guys on. After all, I'm not afraid to go slumming."

The three boys simultaneously glowered at the girl's comment before the green-haired one in the middle suddenly took a step forward. "Okay, you're on, girly," he said, his orange eyes narrowed. "Just don't go crying to me if you break a nail."

"Yeah, that's the way, Masao!" one of his friends cheered.

"Make this Obelisk wish she never stepped foot here," added the other.

Hikari just silently rolled her eyes at their words as she and her opponent activated the duel disks conveniently strapped to their arms.

"Duel!"

 **Hikari: 4000**

 **Masao: 4000**

"Ladies first!" Hikari declared, taking it upon herself to start things off. "I activate the Magic Card, Solar Exchange. By discarding Lightlord Beast Wolf from my hand, I'm able to draw two new cards." She did so before adding, "But now, due to Solar Exchange's second effect, I must also send the top two cards of my deck to the Cemetery."

"A self-milling deck?" her opponent questioned.

"Surprised?" Hikari smirked as she took the first two cards of her deck, Decree of the Royal Palace and Lightlord Summoner Luminas, and slipped them into her Cemetery. "Next, I'll Set a monster in Defense Position and end my turn."

"If that's all you got, then this'll be even easier than I thought. My turn, draw!" Masao said, drawing his sixth card. "I activate the Permanent Magic, Machine Developer. While this card is activated, all Machine-Type monsters on the field gain 200 Attack Points. Also, if a Machine-Type monster is destroyed, I get to place two Junk Counters on this card."

 _It's pretty obvious that this guy uses Machine monsters, then..._ Hikari mused to herself.

"I summon Machiners Gearframe in Attack Mode."

An orange and grey automaton then appeared, proving the Obelisk girl's assumption to be correct (4/1800-2000/0).

"When Machiners Gearframe is Normal Summoned, I'm allowed to add one 'Machiners' monster from my deck to my hand, except for another 'Machiners Gearframe'."

In the end, Masao chose to add Machiners Fortress to his hand, showing it to his opponent for clarification.

"By discarding the Machine-Type monsters Machiners Sniper and Commander Covington in my hand, whose combined Levels equal eight, I can now Special Summon the Machiners Fortress I just got!"

With a loud rumble, a large blue and red tank-robot hybrid rolled onto the field, the long barrel of its cannon pointing straight at Hikari (7/2500-2700/1600).

"Battle! I use Machiners Gearframe to attack your facedown monster!"

The orange robot dashed forward and hurled an iron fist into the concealed monster, causing its card to flip over, revealing Hikari's spirit friend, Lightlord Hunter Raiko (2/200/100).

"You just activated Lightlord Hunter Raiko's effect," Hikari informed. "When he's flipped face-up, I can target and destroy one card on the field, like your Machiners Fortress!"

"But by targeting Machiners Fortress with a monster effect, you activated one of its own effects," Masao interjected. "Before your monster's effect resolves, I can look at your hand and discard one card from it. Now, let's see what ya got over there."

"Well, that's annoying," Hikari sighed, but complied with the Osiris's instructions, revealing her hand, which consisted of Different Dimension Revival, Shimmering-White Dragon Wyburster, Dragon's Mirror, Judgment Dragoon, and Lightlord Angel Cherubim.

After inspecting her hand, Masao declared, "I'll send Judgment Dragoon to your Cemetery."

"Fine," the raven-haired girl shrugged as she discarded the designated card from her hand. "Now that that's out of the way, Raiko will go back to getting rid of your Fortress."

With a determined bark, the Lightlord Hunter emitted a blinding wave of light that obliterated the robotic tank, prompting two Junk Counters to be placed on Masao's Machine Developer.

"Because I used Raiko's effect, I now have to mill the top three cards of my deck."

Just like that, Painful Choice, Lightlord Monk Elieen, and Holy Barrier - Mirror Force were sent off to the Cemetery.

Letting out a whimper in pain, Raiko suddenly burst into a shower of sparks, finally succumbing to the attack he had received earlier from Gearframe.

 _Thank you for all your hard work, Raiko,_ Hikari silently expressed her gratitude for her partner as she carefully added his card with the other ones in her Cemetery.

Ending his Battle Phase, Masao picked out the last two cards in his hand. "I place one card facedown and activate the Permanent Magic, Machiners Frontline. Turn end."

"My turn," Hikari drew a card and, after looking to see what it was, instantly slapped it onto her duel disk. "I summon God Dragon Apocalypse in Attack Mode."

A dragon made entirely out of meteoric flames emerged with a roar (4/1000/1500).

"What's that weak thing gonna to do?" the Machiners Duelist sneered.

"Oh, nothing much..." Hikari replied coyly. "It's just going to help me win this duel right now, that's all."

Masao and the other two Osiris boys burst into laughter after hearing that. "Yeah, right!"

"That wasn't a joke..." the Obelisk girl deadpanned through narrowed eyes. "But if you won't take my word for it, maybe my God Dragon's effect will make you think otherwise: once per turn, by discarding a card, I can take a Dragon-Type monster from my Cemetery and add it straight to my hand."

With that, she casted away the Lightlord Angel Cherubim in her hand and retrieved Judgment Dragoon from the Cemetery, showing it off to her opponent as she did so.

"And since I have Judgment Dragoon back in my hand while there are at least four Lightlord monster with different names in my Cemetery, I can now go on and Special Summon it to the field."

In a flash of blinding light emerged the majestic white-fathered dragon Hikari had used in her entrance exam (8/3000/2600).

"Next, I activate Judgment Dragoon's effect," Hikari announced. "By paying 1000 Life Points, I can have it destroy every card on the field, except itself."

 **Hikari: 3000**

 **Masao: 4000**

Masao's eyes went wide as the white dragon unleashed a blinding pulse of light that quickly blew away the four cards on his field, as well as Hikari's God Dragon Apocalypse.

"Because I now have a DARK monster in my Cemetery, I'll banish it to Special Summon Shimmering-White Dragon Wyburster from my hand."

After Hikari slipped God Dragon Apocalypse's card into her front skirt pocket, a white and blue wyvern with glowing orange markings along its body and a shining blue star in the center of its chest emerged next to her other dragon (4/1700/1800).

"You know what comes next, don't you?" the Obelisk girl asked her opponent even though the look on his face pretty much already told her everything she needed to know. Signaling her monsters, she then declared, "Battle! Judgment Dragoon and Shimmering-White Dragon Wyburster, direct attack!"

The two dragons each fired off a blast of light that quickly slammed into Masao, knocking him clear off of his feet and into the dirt with a thud.

 **Hikari: 3000 (winner)**

 **Masao: 0**

Hikari turned her attention to the other two Osiris boys, an innocent-looking smile plastered on her face. "Now that I'm done with your friend here, would either of you like a shot at me?"

"Uh, n-no thanks," one stuttered.

"Yeah, we just remembered someplace else we gotta be!" the other added before he and his friend ran off, dragging a half-dazed Masao behind them.

Hikari heard a rumble of amusement from Judgment Dragoon and Wyburster before they, too, disappeared once she finally deactivated her duel disk.

"That was a sweet duel!" a voice suddenly piped up from somewhere down the trail.

Hikari glanced around, and three males, all wearing Osiris Red uniforms, came up. One looked to be older than the other two, with a bigger bulk and a face resembling a koala. The shortest one sported a mess of aqua-colored hair and spectacles rested on his small nose. He lagged just behind the third and the speaker of the last quote, who Hikari instantly recognized as the boy that had run into her during the entrance exams. His eyes seem to light up with passion, just by watching that last duel. "No wonder you're in Blue!"

"Thanks… I guess," Hikari replied with a wary smile.

"Hey, wait a second…" the blue-haired boy blurted out. "Aren't you Kurayami Hikari? The Examinee who beat a proctor on her first turn?"

"Um, yes?" she answered, even though it really sounded more like a question.

"A First Turn Kill, huh?" the brunet grinned. "You specialize in speedy finishes, then?"

"No... I guess that just happens sometimes," she admitted. "Drawn out duels are stressing to play with the deck I use, and they take too long."

He laughed. "So true. Oh, the name's Judai by the way, Yuki Judai. The short one's Sho, and that's Hayato."

"Hey!" Sho exclaimed, receiving a grin from Judai. Hayato muttered his hello, but it was barely coherent.

 _Yuki Judai?_ Hikari repeated to herself before finally remembering why that name sounded familiar. He was the kid who apparently defeated Professor Chronos and his Antique Gear Golem. If that was true, then maybe this guy would be worth keeping an eye on…

"It's a pleasure to meet you all," she greeted them as decorously as possible.

"Nice to meet you, too!" was Judai's boisterous reply. "Though I guess we've already sorta met once before, huh?"

"That's right; back at the entrance exams," Hikari affirmed. "I'm just glad that this meeting didn't involve a collision, like our first encounter did."

"Yeah, me, too," he laughed embarrassedly before attempting to change the subject. "So... why are you around here?"

"Just looking around, I guess. The duel was unintentional."

"You should ignore those guys. They have a thing or two about Blues," Hayato apologized for them. "A lot of Reds are wary of them. Sorry, it's just the way things are."

"It shouldn't be like that…" Hikari frowned.

"Oh well, they've just gotta go with the flow," Judai said. "If you can't change it, love it!" He burst out laughing again, bringing a smile back to Hikari's face. This guy was so carefree! "I think the whole set-up is fine!"

Hikari suddenly felt a familiar furry creature brush against her legs and look up at her with big knowing eyes. Raiko nudged her calf and pointed towards the Blue Dorms with his nose. Then, he also gestured towards the low sun in the sky. All that together clicked. "The Welcoming Dinner tonight!" Hikari exclaimed to no one in particular, but everyone jumped.

"Right!" Sho remembered. "The night before school starts! That would be tonight!"

"Oh, and you have to walk way back down to the Blue Dorms!" Judai exclaimed. "Sorry we held you up for so long!"

"That's alright," Hikari reassured him. A quick glance to her PDA indeed told her that it was time to get going. "I hope we'll be in some classes tomorrow, huh?"

"I hope we can duel soon!" Judai exclaimed suddenly.

Hikari laughed again. "Relax. We're in the same year. We'd have to duel sometime, right? You know, I'd like to duel you, too, Yuki Judai."

"Sweet!" he grinned. "Until then!"

"Farewell," the raven-haired girl said, and briskly headed back down the road to the Blue Dorms. Another glance at her PDA broke her walk into a jog. It was impossible to run any faster in heeled boots and a short miniskirt of the Obelisk Girls' uniform.

She crested the next hill to see the lake. That meant the Obelisk Dorms were a few minutes away. Something caused her to stop and turn around. The sun had already set, casting a brilliant cascade of colors over the waters. The Red Dorm was an even smaller building now, and she could make out one figure, still standing outside. Even in the distance, Hikari could tell it was Yuki Judai.

A sudden shimmer next to him caught her attention, and she squinted to make it clearer. It was hard to see and she doubted what her vision announced. Then, the boy turned and walked back inside the building, the shimmer was still next to him, as if hovering about him. He disappeared into the building.

That reminded Hikari that she should have been going somewhere, too. It seemed that the Lightlord Hunter nudging her along wasn't enough. "Do you think it was what I think it was, Raiko?" she asked while resuming her brisk pace to the Blue Dorms. In the fading light, the brilliance of the Blue Dorms adorned with colorful lights dazzled her eyes, but not nearly as much as the thoughts in her head.

The dog spirit only barked softly in reply, but looked back over the crest anyway. He seemed to think the same thing, but doubted it, just as Hikari had. Yet the thought kept lagging on her mind as she walked: That Yuki Judai certainly was worth keeping an eye on.


End file.
